E-mail messaging that works
These e-marketing tips from SmartBrief’s launch manager Sarah Brown are a follow-up to her recent post about optimizing e-mail frequency and subject lines. Sarah is in charge of introducing brand-new SmartBriefs (17 new publications so far this year!), as well as product innovations to nearly 3 million SmartBrief subscribers.
As you may know, we at SmartBrief publish newsletters in more than 20 industries. We have newsletters that cater to such diverse groups as civil engineers, lawyers, airline industry professionals, and accountants. Despite the diversity of our audiences, we have found some copy writing best practices that work across the board:
- Keep it short. Best-case scenario, your entire marketing message should be legible within the default preview pane on Microsoft Outlook. (At SmartBrief we try to keep it to 3 short paragraphs.) Use action words whenever possible, and eliminate adverbs and nonessential words to pare down your message. Cater to readers who skim.
- Have only one “ask.” Each e-mail marketing message should have a singular “ask” from the reader. Here at SmartBrief, it’s usually “Sign up for SmartBrief.” Whatever your goal may be — “purchase this product,” “download this whitepaper,” “register for this event” — resist the temptation to tack on other action items. The best results come from keeping your reader focused on your most important goal.
- Offer several means to the same end. A singular purpose does not necessarily mean a singular call to action. Link to the same action at least twice, and often three times in the same message — selecting different action verbs as triggers. What inspires people to click varies, so mix it up. Also, don’t bury your call to action at the bottom of the e-mail. If you lead with your goal, you’ll be sure that those who read e-mails in their preview panes get your message.
- Add in a graphical call to action. It’s a fact: people look at pictures, even simple ones. In our marketing messages, we link two to four different action words/phrases — and include a graphical signup button as well. That signup button really works. In a recent multi-send campaign, we had a total of 14 opportunities to opt in, five of which were graphical buttons and nine of which were hyperlinks. So even though less than 40% of the opportunities to click were signup graphics, almost 60% of our clicks came from the signup buttons.
- Show readers the goods. Whenever possible, show your recipients a sample of what you’re offering. At SmartBrief, we accomplish this by sending a sample newsletter below our invitation to sign up and by including clickable thumbnails of sample brief on our signup pages, like so.
- Go out with a bang. We often like to include a P.S. at the end of our marketing messages. Sometimes we use it as a reminder, sometimes to underscore an important detail that may have gotten lost in the body of the message, and sometimes to add a little dash of personality to the message to make it feel less sales-y. The way you close out your message is important – so think carefully about the impression you want to leave.
Image credit, terrymorris, via iStock
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Tags: copy writing, e-mail marketing, smartbrief
Categories: Ideas in Action
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Posted by Paukl Beaulieu on August 24th, 2009 at 10:49 am
My two cents;
1. Define the goal of each message: sometimes that means demographically targeting
2. Subject line most critical part- TEST, TEST,TEST and keep it short and think relationship not message
3. Pre-header or Snippet Text: Common but ..( Can’t see image, click here.)
Good: (Get $100 rebate, blah blah) good use of header info
4. Make it Relevant: timely, Meaningful, Rewarding, What’s in it for me.
5. Test across different email clients. Ex: Outlook blocks image file in corporate environment. Don’t make the whole email one big image (avoid image buttons, include browser based version of your message, etc)
6. Please put call to action above the fold!! Make it bold and visible , time sensitive works. ex: Sale ends today!
7. Don’t ever send the recipient to your home page!!
6.
Posted by Merritt Colaizzi on August 24th, 2009 at 1:05 pm
Good additions, Paukl!
Especially the emphasis on testing and on directing folks to specific pages rather than your home page. There are not many things that drive me crazier than that. I may be game to click once but don’t have time to rummage around a Web site hunting for something.
Anyone else have effective email tactics to share?
Posted by Twitter Trackbacks for SmartBlog On Social Media » E-mail messaging that works [smartblogs.com] on Topsy.com on August 25th, 2009 at 8:02 am
[...] SmartBlog On Social Media » E-mail messaging that works smartblogs.com/socialmedia/2009/08/24/e-mail-messaging-that-works – view page – cached These e-marketing tips from SmartBrief’s launch manager Sarah Brown are a follow-up to her recent post about optimizing e-mail frequency and subject lines. Sarah is in charge of introducing brand-new SmartBriefs (17 new publications so far this year!), as well as product innovations to nearly 3 million SmartBrief subscribers. — From the page [...]
Posted by SmartBlog Insights » Blog Archive » E-mail messaging that works on September 10th, 2009 at 11:49 am
[...] These e-marketing tips from SmartBrief’s launch manager Sarah Brown are a follow-up to her recent post about optimizing e-mail frequency and subject lines. Sarah is in charge of introducing brand-new SmartBriefs (17 new publications so far this year!), as well as product innovations to nearly 3 million SmartBrief subscribers. This piece originally ran on SmartBlog on Social Media. [...]
Posted by SmartBrief on: Integrating e-mail marketing and social media | SmartBlog On Social Media on April 12th, 2010 at 10:57 am
[...] Improve your e-mail marketing Regardless of who your audience is, there are some guidelines for e-mail messaging that hold true, SmartBrief’s Sarah Brown writes. Keep the writing short, ask readers for just one action and provide graphics and a sample of what you offer. SmartBrief/SmartBlog on Social Media (8/24) [...]